'High Fidelity' opens in Boston, then on to Broadway

NewsTrack - Entertainment

'High Fidelity' musical heads for Broadway

BOSTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Boston theatergoers Tuesday got the first look at the Broadway-bound musical, "High Fidelity," Playbill.com reported.
The romantic comedy stars Will Chase as Rob, a record store owner, and Jenn Colella as the ex-girlfriend who inspires him to grow by revisiting his history of rocky relationships.

Author Nick Hornby set his novel in London, the 2000 film version starring John Cusack and Jack Black was set in Chicago and the stage musical moves the record store and all the action to Brooklyn.
"Fuddy Meers" and "Rabbit Hole" playwright David Lindsay-Abaire wrote the book for the stage show and Tom Kitt wrote the music with lyrics by Amanda Green.

"High Fidelity" is scheduled to move to Broadway's Imperial Theatre for previews starting Nov. 20 with an opening date of Dec. 7.

Re: 'High Fidelity' opens in Boston, then on to Broadway

Re: 'High Fidelity' opens in Boston, then on to Broadway

I am curious too. The movie was so great and I love Nick Hornby as an author. I haven't ready High Fidelity yet, but I have read About a Boy and How to Be Good. I can't imagine High Fidelity as a musical. John Cusack is my long-time crush. That was probably his last great movie. I can't imagine anyone else except for John playing Rob. When the reviews come out I hope someone posts here, and I hope people posts their own views. As you can tell, my imagination is very limited in imagining High Fidelity as a musical.

Re: 'High Fidelity' opens in Boston, then on to Broadway

omg im a huge musical theatre fan...coincidently i am doing nick hornby as my author for a non american author study...wow i havent event gotten to that book yet...nor did i know it was gonna be a musical...WOW crazy coincidence...because of this project hornby is my new fave author and now this??? wow

Re: 'High Fidelity' opens in Boston, then on to Broadway

Weird. A musical? I'll keep an open mind on this one because I just saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (the musical) and couldn't figure out WHY it even needed to be remade, and it turned out to be hysterically funny. You never can tell!

Oct. 6, 2006 - When the public-relations man says of a Broadway-bound musical, “The third time’s the charm,” it suggests nightmarish memories of past—and possibly even epic—failures.

But the challenge facing the new musical “High Fidelity,” now in previews in Boston and scheduled to open on Broadway Nov. 20, is quite the opposite, though perhaps equally daunting: how to follow a book and a movie that were both awash in charm, and, if not megahits, at the very least cult classics.

The original book was a deft comic turn by pop bard Nick Hornby, a meditation about loves lost, and lost again, by the commitmentphobic proprietor of a record store—vinyl, not remotely CD—in a dreary London suburb. In the movie, the store was moved to a seedy neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side where John Cusack was at his Cusackian best as the “I won’t grow up” narrator, Rob. It also featured Jack Black in his breakout role as Barry, the manic, resident bully and self-proclaimed arbiter of rock-and-roll taste.

“I loved the book so I admit that my first thought when I heard the idea [of a play] was ‘Oh no, really',” said David Lindsay-Abaire, the Tony-nominated author of last season’s hit “Rabbit Hole” who adapted “High Fidelity” for the stage. He changed his mind though, swayed, he says, by the songs from the composing team of Tom Kitt (music) and Amanda Green (lyrics). “It’s real music, songs you would hear on the radio,” says Lindsay-Abaire. “There’s not a moment when the music becomes cheeky or sends anything up.” Green says Hornby’s characters lend themselves beautifully to song. “They are people with small lives,” she says, “but big emotions.”

Still, the score may be the thorniest problem faced by the creative team. While the denizens of the record store may have gaping holes in their lives, music isn’t one of them. The characters are decidedly hip about music—and snobbish about it to boot. Broadway musicals and “hip” seldom show up in the same sentence. Kitt, who plays keyboards in his own band and whose taste runs to Radiohead and Keane, says his primary theatrical obligation was to engage the audience with melodies. So it wasn’t possible to aspire to “an ‘indie’ rock album” he says—but he insists, “it does feel like a rock-and-roll concept album.” The score is filled with referential riffs to the Beatles, the Who and Yes that plays like an insider’s game. (“High Fidelity” fanatics may want to compile their own list.) And while the movie gave Rob a Bruce Springsteen muse, the play goes further, giving him and his muse a Springsteen tribute duet.

Re: 'High Fidelity' opens in Boston, then on to Broadway

Thirteen lucky lottery winners will get to see the opening-night performance of High Fidelity, starring Will Chase and Jenn Colella, from the front row.

Producers of the new musical comedy announced the $26.25 rush tickets will be available for the opening night Dec. 7. As per the lottery instructions, guests must fill out a lottery card (available starting at 3:30 PM) in front of the Imperial Theatre that day. The drawing will be held at 4 PM to select the winners (limit of two tickets per person) who must supply photo ID and pay for the tickets in cash.

Walter Bobbie (Chicago, Sweet Charity) directs the new musical – based on the Nick Hornby novel – that began previews at the Imperial Theatre Nov. 20 following a world premiere at Boston's Colonial Theatre.

High Fidelity follows the story of record-store owner Rob (and constant Top 5 listmaker) who — when things in his current relationship go sour — revisits his former relationships to find out where he went wrong.

Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Kimberly Akimbo, Fuddy Meers) penned the book with music by composer Tom Kitt (Laugh Whore, Debbie Does Dallas) and lyrics by Amanda Green (For the Love of Tiffany, Up The Creek Without A Paddle).

The 2000 film reset the Hornby story in Chicago (rather than England) and starred John Cusack, Jack Black, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lisa Bonet, Tim Robbins and Lili Taylor. The Broadway musical is set in New York's Brooklyn.

High Fidelity plays at the Imperial Theatre, 249 West 45th Street (between Broadway and Eighth Ave.). Tickets can currently be purchased by calling (212) 239-6200 or online at through topfivebreakups.com.

Re: 'High Fidelity' opens in Boston, then on to Broadway

'High Fidelity' ending after brief run

Posted 12/12/2006 7:18 PM ET

NEW YORK (AP) — High Fidelity won't be making music on Broadway much longer.
The $10 million musical based on Nick Hornby's novel and the 2000 film about a slacker record-store owner will close Sunday after 14 performances and 18 previews.

The stage version, which has music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Amanda Green and a book by David Lindsay-Abaire, opened Dec. 7 to mostly negative reviews. It has done meager business at the Imperial Theatre, one of Broadway's larger houses, since beginning previews there Nov. 20. Last week it grossed only $282,734, playing to 45&#37; capacity.